June 2023
HAVE YOU MISSED OUT?
Or were you there?
JUNE
In this month’s video, Gillian and Richard will discuss the people behind the company - for Gillian’s last month here.
Second Floor
Gillian, Emy, and Tommy, otherwise known as GET Theatre, have spent June rehearsing and sharing their new play, By A Thread, in the Rehearsal Room. The blurb is as follows:
Matt is uneasy. He knows something is wrong - with his mind, with his marriage, with himself. He can't shake the feeling he's got to leave his beautiful, understanding wife, but he can't explain why. He's not good enough. He's...all wrong. Something is standing as a barrier between them, and he's worried it's him.
By A Thread is written by Gillian, directed by Emy, and was performed by Tommy as a rehearsed reading for an invited audience, and there are plans to do full performances in the not-too-distant future, so watch this space!
As it is I, Gillian, writing this newsletter(my last one), seems a little improper for me to describe the performance, but I will say:
the atmosphere in the room was more than we had anticipated, people laughed more than we expected, at the end you could have heard a pin drop, and people were very kind with their feedback. So we were very glad to have been able to show it, and look forward to what the future brings.
Also in the Rehearsal Room this month, we had Botanic StreetSpace Workshop, an all day workshop looking into housing and public spaces in the Holylands and Botanic areas. Participants discussed the potential of the area to be a safer, more welcoming and inclusive neighbourhood, and explored people's experiences, memories and histories; creating maps and drawings to reflect these. They also investigated the potential of these streets to provide fair, accessible and diverse places for people. It sounds like it was a brilliant day for all involved.
The Second Floor has finally seen the opening of our brand new toilets! After a slight delay when one set of workers had to wait for the others to do their bit, but they were delayed by another job, which became a waiting palaver, we now have fully functioning toilets! They have the same design as the ones on the First Floor, so at least we're consistent. With an accessible cubicle and baby changing facilities, the second floor is now even more ready for whatever people throw at it!
First Floor
The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University, hub of literature and writing, hosted their Summer School’s annual showcase in the Book Bar at the very end of this month. Congratulations to all the students - now graduates - of the summer scheme! I’m sure their work is beautiful, and all had a great time presenting to family and friends.
The First Floor also remains host to our lovely office users, both in house and hotdeskers, and Paul’s Improv classes, and more!
Theatre
Micky Bartlett has filled our June with comedy nights, run by the BBC, which booked up in days! With eight shows across the month, Micky B has introduced local acts to new audiences, in this series of free shows. This means the theatre has been full of even more cameras and equipment, as the BBC recorded them all for podcasts which will be released at some point in the future.
Juanita Rea hosted and ran Songs For Sudan 2, a fundraiser for the current situation in Sudan, supported by the School of Arts English and Languages at Queen's University. There was live music from Juanita Rea with Chip Bailey and Cameron Gibson, a set from Rory Nellis and a traditional dance by the Sudanese Youth Group.
This was part of a series of shows they’re doing at different venues around Belfast, to raise awareness and money for the war that recently escalated, so maybe you’ll catch them elsewhere!
There’s been music galore in the theatre too, with top sets from Somehow Sentient, who headlined this month’s Cosmic Jam, Adam Denton, and Quantum Foam. Music and lights and colour, oh my!
You are always welcome to get involved yourselves too - Cosmic Jam is an open mic night that’s open to everyone, regardless of skill level, to come on down and have fun with other musicians. So why not come along next time and try it?
For Refugee Week we teamed up with our friends at The Red Cross NI (who have offices almost next door) as they created an event highlighting the refugee journey, with the theme of Compassion. They showed a 30 minute film that they had made, and then had a discussion with a panel and the audience. We hope to be working with them more in the future, bringing more peoples stories to you, so watch this space!
The theatre has also been witness to some more improvement works – our friend James Kirkpatrick came in to lift the speakers up into the ceiling. Day one involved a lot of drilling, and then some waiting while the correct hook came into stock. The mess in the theatre was worth it though – mess is progress! We'll soon have the speakers in the best place for optimum sound for all gigs and events in the theatre.
June marks the last of our regular Sunday Improv shows, as the gang expands and moves on. So we’re bidding a fond farewell to all the lovely improvvers who’ve graced our stage over the years, and to Paul Mone who’s taught them all so well. Paul is still running his classes here, and I’m sure this is not the last we’ll see of improv in this building, but for now we wish them well in their future endeavours!
Basement
Emy and Robert filmed another live version of You’ve Never Seen - the discussion section of our monthly film club. This time it was Re-Animator (1985), and the talk turned wacky as Emy and Robert had fun with the subject.
You can watch all previous episodes back on our YouTube channel, or if you’re a Member you can catch the next one live, after watching the film with us, of course. July’s film is the comedy classic The Producers (1967), join us here.
External Events
Earlier this year Richard was invited onto a panel to discuss Remote Production at the ProLight + Sound show in Frankfurt. Here's the video of the panel:
It was a strange experience, as the chaps at Universe thought they had invited me when they hadn't, so I got an early morning discord from Andy from Zoom making sure I was all set to appear....so very quickly I had to get ready to appear on a trade show in Germany. The power of the interwebs at work. You can even see the calendar reminder I set for myself behind me every so often.